Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $11.7\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$72$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${11.7\%} \times {\$72} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $11.7\%$ is equivalent to $11.7 \div 100$ $11.7 \div 100 = 0.117$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.117$ $\times$ $$72$ = $$8.42$ You would pay $$8.42$ in sales tax.